At its Feb. 28 meeting, the Fremont Unified School District Board of Education approved the hiring of David Hotchkiss as the district's first Chief Technology Officer. Hotchkiss started work March 1. The Chief Technology Officer position was created in an effort to improve the effectiveness of technology in FUSD by placing a broad range of technology functions under the direction of one administrator. The new position includes responsibility for coordinating instructional and support technology, reconfiguring the district's technology infrastructure, working with a citizen's Technology Advisory Committee to restructure the district technology plan and developing resources to support improvements in technology.

Hotchkiss comes to the district very well qualified to assume those responsibilities. He holds bachelors' degrees in electronic engineering and logistics management and a doctorate in business administration. He has been a certified Project Management Professional since 1995. His professional experience includes four years as the director of information technology projects for Kaiser Permanente. He also has worked as a consultant for Educational Services and has managed various projects for Wells Fargo, VISA and Kaiser Engineering. He is the author of numerous professional articles and training guides for management of large-scale projects. He has been a member of the Project Management Institute's Standards Committee and served on the Board of Directors of California News Technology.

One of the challenges of the job will be to standardize equipment, access and applications and to make sure that the technology department is providing the highest quality service possible, he said. "I hope to take the district's technology to the next level where it needs to be. My job is to make sure that every educator has access to all of the equipment and applications they need to be successful." He said part of his job will be to help identify and develop funding sources. "Funding is always a challenge," he said. "I will work with the community to find creative ways to fund technology. It's not easy to find dedicated recurring funds, but there are a lot of innovative ways to do this. I'm going to explore every potential."